Author: Emily Gautreaux

Holiday Snacks Perfect For Anyone to Try

Thanksgiving and Halloween aren’t the only holidays heralded for their assortment of food, and thanks to this collection of holiday snack recipes from Southern Living, the traditional fare of store-bought sugar cookies are put aside for more savory, southern treats like pralines, candied bacon, and much more.

Sweet-and-Spicy Sheet Pan Bacon

Often the first holiday snacks to go a any party, candied bacon has every right to be a holiday staple, and this sweet and savory combination is the perfect breakfast side for Christmas Morning or as an appetizer earlier in the evening. Bacon made simple; this recipe has you covering a sheet pan in aluminum foil, laying bacon atop it, and sprinkling the strips with seasoning and brown sugar to give it an added punch with little mess to clean up!

Pecan Pralines

No Southern Christmas is complete without the addition of pralines as a holiday snack. Enjoyable all year long, these pecan pralines just have an extra touch of festive delight when enjoyed in the holiday season. This recipe has you preparing the perfect pralines, which are known for their delicate textura, crunchy add-ins, and timelessly sweet appeal, in a heavy dutch oven while making them perfect with a candy thermometer.

Best-Ever Sticky Buns

Once you bake these deliciously gooey pecan-topped cinnamon rolls, you’ll want to keep the recipe on hand all year long. Best enjoyed first thing on Christmas morning, this baked treat will fill your house with the sweet smell of cinnamon and brown sugar, which is sure to place a smile on anyone’s face. The pecans added to the creamy topping of the cinnamon-roll like load gives an added texture that perfectly completes this can’t miss Christmas treat.

Maple-Bacon Smokies

General rule of thumb when it comes to holiday snack making is that any treat placed on a serving toothpick is the first and fastest to go, and these maple syrup-caramelized “smokies” are no different, especially when they are wrapped savoringly in bacon. An inexpensive dish, this recipe has you only using four ingredients, making it an ideal recipe to double or triple so that you can have plenty of savory skewers on hand.

No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars

No-bake means little mess, and with this recipe, it also means more enjoyment as this layered fudge-filled bar is easy to make and quickly devoured. These graham cracker cookies are paired with caramel and chocolate and topped with toffee candy bars and left to chill overnight to yield an unforgettable sweet and savory cookie that’s treasured before it’s eaten.

Hot-and-Sweet Fried Peanuts

The tug-o-war between the flavors of hot and sweet is ever present in this recipe that gives you a handful of texture, seasoning, and sugar, all of which pairs especially well. This assortment has cayenne pepper and chilli powder on one side and brown sugar and powdered sugar on the other, making this a snackable spread of fried peanuts that everyone will be reaching for.

Pecan Sandies         

A classically southern cookie and perfect holiday treat, the pecan sandie is always welcomed at the Christmas dessert table, and this recipe yields two dozen cookies, though you might need to double it as these cookies typically disappear quickly.

Pumpkin Spice-Chocolate Marble Bread

This recipe is perfect for pairing with that warm cup of coffee on Christmas Morning or stamping cup of hot chocolate or cocoa on Christmas Eve. This recipe capitalizes on the seasonal pumpkin bread flavor long after it’s forgotten by the public, surpassed by flavors of peppermint, and it’s paired with chocolate to give it a sweet treat flavor in the two loaves this recipe yields. Plan ahead and slice smartly throughout December to best enjoy this warm, but sweet Christmas treat.

For more delicious recipes, click here.

Notable Louisiana Trivia For Everyone

You can be a Crowley native or a tourist who has heard exciting tales from friends spending their vacations in New Orleans, and no matter your history with the southern boot-shaped state, there’s always more to discover. The following collection of cajun country facts is adapted from Mental Floss’s list of “25 Fascinating Louisiana Facts’, a true curation of details that could only have been learned by true first-hand cajun accounts and not on the back of Bourbon Street postcards. Enjoy this Louisiana trivia.

Capital Nickname- Louisiana Trivia 

It’s well known that the capital city of Louisiana is Baton Rouge, and it’s alleged that its name’s french translation of “red stick” is attributed to the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville. Supposedly he names the territory after an observation he made while wandering along the Mississippi River bluff, spotting a polie covered in animal blood. This odd sight served as a territory marker that signified the division of land between the Indian tribes of Bayougoula and Houma.

Notorious Notes- Louisiana Trivia

Often associated with Louisiana due to its prominence across the state, the musical genre of jazz was born in the state, despite the exact year being unknown. It’s often accepted that it originated in the later half of the 19th century or it was blown through a trumpet and into existence with the first jazz song recorded by Nick LaRocca and his “Original Dixieland Jass Band’s single, Livery Stable Blues.”

King of Cakes & Carnivale- Louisiana Trivia

Every Mardi Gras season brings a lot of tourism, culture, and acclaim to the city of New Orleans, but the Crescent City also sells approximately 500,000 king cakes annually with an additional 50,000 cakes being shipped out nationwide to out-of-state customers and fans of the classic dessert. Originating as part of an Epiphany tradition from the 14th century, the official cake of Mardi Gras is topped with the symbolic colors of purple, green, and gold, signifying justice, faith, and power, respectively. Whether they’re coming for the King Cakes or not, the city of New Orleans sees approximately 1.4 million people attending Mardi Gras in the famed city each year. Compare this to the 384,000 people that populate the city outside of the holiday, and it’s easy to find “where the party’s at.”

Gator Country- Louisiana Trivia

In the United States, Louisiana is among the top states housing the most alligators in the country, with over 300,000 residing in alligator farms and an additional 2,000,000 roaming the wild. The industry of alligator hides and raw meats collectively bring the state around $57 million annually.

Good Times- Louisiana Trivia

Often associated in tourist and cajun branding, the phrase “Laissez les bon temps rouler” is a word-for-word translation of “let the good times roll.” This exact phrasing, while wildly popular, is technically grammatically incorrect, at least in the French Language, where you would be corrected to “Prenons du bons temps” instead.

Elevating Spirits- Louisiana Trivia

Interestingly enough, the highest point in the state is the Driskill Mountain, located just East of Shreveport at a modest 535 feet above sea level. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the state’s lowest point is the city of New Orleans itself at an astounding eight feet below sea level. New Orleans is also the second lowest point of elevation in the entire United States, attributing to its cemeteries housing above-ground mausoleums instead of the tombstones and markers found in other cities.

Celebrated Capitals- Louisiana Trivia

Often celebrated for its individuality, Louisiana is home to many international accolades, including being home to the Crawfish Capital of the World (Breaux Bridge), Dog Trot Capital of the World (Dubach), Frog Capital of the World(Rayne), Cajun Music Capital of the World (Mamou), Duck Capital of the World (Ghueydan), and Rice Capital of the World (Crowley).

For more Louisiana related articles, click here.

Tulane Students Awarded Top Inventing Prize

A team of Tulane University‘s biomedical engineering students have been awarded at an annual National Inventors Hall of Fame event, according to a Tulane press release.

The team, known as TrachTech, won the prestigious award at the National Inventors Hall of Fame’s annual Collegiate Inventors Competition, where they were one of five winners awarded with The Arrow Electronics People’s Choice Award and its accompanying $2000 prize.

A member of TrachTech, Stephen Hanh, a Tulane biomedical engineering student had said of their future plans, “our current plan is to continue advancing our prototype and testing to effectively prove its efficacy and begin looking for ways to introduce our product to the market.”

The team of biomedical engineering students making up TrachTech submitted their invention, a specialized device to clean intubation tubes without “the risk of extubation” in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With ventilators in such high demand nationwide, the students recognized the vital need to ensure that these machines remain safe and clean.

As written in the submitted project description, “in at least 84% of intubation tubes, biofilm buildup occurs, restricting airflow and increasing the likelihood that patients will develop ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).” Their device being “specifically designed to efficiently remove biofilms and debris from the tubes and maintain continued airflow from ventilators during the cleaning process.”

The TrachTech team had recently completed a cohort with the National Science Foundation‘s LSU I-Corps Sites program over a six week period in which they learned about the commercialization processes involved in the invention industry. The program had included seminars and lectures on topics pertaining to copywriting, obtaining patents, licencing, customer identification, market researching, and potential opportunities for startups.

Hanh looked forward to the future of TrachTech’s decorated invention be saying “our current plan is to continue advancing our prototype and testing to effectively prove its efficacy and begin looking for ways to introduce our product to the market.”

Besides being awarded The People’s Choice Award from Arrow Electronics, TrachTech has also entered a technology competition sponsored by Tulane University. Tulane’s Novel Tech Challenge awards prizes of monetary value as well as notoriety for the best submitted ideas that improve education, health, environment, and urban infrastructure through the utilization of technology.

This challenge from the university is a collaboration between the School of Science and Engineering, the Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Development. The challenge is also funded with generous support from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, allowing for Challenge winners to receive over $20,000 in prizes alongside additional financing from potential investors.

In its seventh year, the Challenge has been a notorious starting point from many new startup companies from Tulane University, allowing and enabling students to move their ideas out of the walls of the university and into the commercial realm. Recent startups taking advantage of this opportunity are the bioimaging company, Instapath as well as the regenerative medicine companies, BioAesthetics and D&P BioInnovations.

Co-director of the Novel Tech Challenge, Greg Stein told Tulane press of the annual event, “The Novel Tech Challenge provides students a chance to take an idea out of their heads and turn it into something real where they can show and explain it and convince potential investors to finance them or join their team.”

So, alongside their recent accomplishments at the LSU I-Corps Sites Program and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, TrachTech’s members: Morgan Bohrer, Stephen Hahn, Michael L’Ecuyer, Alex Verne and faculty advisor Mark Mondrinos set their inventive sights on future awards, acclaim, and above all a process of ventilator utilization that is save, clean, and effective.

For more education related information, click here.

Six Ground Beef Dinner Recipes

When it comes to meat products, there are few more deliciously versatile than ground beef, and thanks to this collection of reliable recipes courtesy of Martha Stewart’s cooking blog, dinner time doesn’t need to be predictable just because you’re cooking with ground beef.

Due to the inexpensive nature of ground beef and its versatile appeal, it’s a family favorite, especially when it’s incorporated into a stir fry, platter of sloppy joes, or italian meatballs. Though, it’s the versatility and willingness to be incorporated in a variety of cuisines when combined with the right flavors that makes this meat a reliable staple of the kitchen that it is. So, consider the following recipes when you have a surplus of ground beef due to a supermarket bargain, and you find yourself looking to spice things up figuratively and literally.

Taco Casserole

To some, ground beef is synonymous with taco shells, taco salads, and mexican cuisine in general, so it’s a good idea to lean into that association whenever Taco Tuesday comes around with this recipe that only takes a half hour of preparation and cooking. Your ground beef is sautéed in a nicely seasoned skillet (consider cast iron) alongside bell peppers, onions, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, and a beaucoup assortment of mexican spices. Top it all off with tortilla chips and two of your favorite cheeses for a casual meal that will satisfy the whole family.

Mini Meatballs in Lettuce Cups

Many leave ground beef in the grocery store cooler due to its tendency to “oil up,” when heated, immediately associating the meat with an unhealthy lifestyle, but it definitely doesn’t have to be that way. Consider this light ground beef appetizer from an asian-inspired cuisine with these meatballs that are uniquely flavored thanks to the combination of garlic, sesame oil, fish sauce, ginger, and toasted sesame oil. Bite-sized, portable, and aesthetically-pleasing, these little keto-friendly bites will make any cynic smile.

Lasagna with Meat Sauce

A tried and true favorite, italian cuisine is always perfectly paired with ground beef, and this Italian-American casserole uses no-boil lasagna noodles, saving you prep time to prepare an accompanying salad or other complimentary side dish (maybe a hand pie of beef and cheddar?). Favor, texture, and heft are brought together in this recipe with the combination of italian sausage and ground beef, making it a classic treasure of italian cooking that you’d be wise to commit to memory.

Sausage-and-Kale Stuffed Shells

Sometimes when shopping, you purchase the ground beef because you’re short on time, and in that cast this make-ahead recipe is perfect for a quickly-approaching dinner. This baked pasta dish is packed with hearty winter ingredients like pork sausage, kale, ricotta cheese, parmigiano reggiano, mozzarella, and marinara to fill an oven-safe casserole dish with cheesy, savory stuffed shells sure to satisfy the whole family.

Easy Beef Chili

Winter is here, and there’s no method of warming up more satisfying than a bowl of warm chili and crackers on a cold winter’s night after a long day of work or shopping. This comforting bowl of chili can be made much more interesting than a premade package from the store by cooking the ground beef with aromatics such as onions, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, cocoa, tomato paste, and assorted seasoning. Then, it’s the fire roasted tomatoes and toppings of sour cream and chives that make this a hearty, satisfying December favorite.

Meatball Casserole

Transform what would otherwise be a basic meatball recipe into a delicious easy-to-prepare casserole with this colorful and inventive recipe that simmers ground pork and beef meatballs in a quick tomato sauce before topping them off with mozzarella before it’s all broiled. Top it off with fresh basil before you take pictures of this aesthetic and tasty dish.

For more delicious recipes, click here.

Destinations for Traveling Smartly and on a Budget

When planning ahead for a future trip, it’s always beneficial for your itinerary to be safe, organized, and frugal- whenever possible, and with this curated list from Travel + Leisure, a trip’s excitement and fun does not have to break the bank.

It should be noted that traveling in general is complicated right now, so the following list should be taken into account in accordance with local government safety measures, restrictions and individual travelers’ personal health conditions prior to departure. That being said, many have been taking advantage of this frugal brand of trip-planning, known as “budget travel” in light of many being short on discretionary funds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though for many, it’s not seen as a deterrent, as much as it is a reason to travel as smartly as possible–by staying domestic and stretching your dollar as far as it’ll go.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Known today by its nickname, the ”Modern Frontier,” this city combines Western cowboy culture, active stockyards, oil sites, and urban attractions to give a modern-industrial vibe to Oklahoma’s capital city. Tourists and locals alike regularly take a stroll around Scissortail Park or one of the city’s various museums, such as the Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Additionally, this city is known internationally as the Horse Show Capital of the Word with many of the metro-area’s horse shows being free or low-priced. If in the area, be sure to also visit the city’s Bricktown entertainment district, an old warehouse district that’s been transformed into an entertainment hotspot with an aesthetically-scenic cana winding through its streets and in the background of your photographs.

Omaha, Nebraska

Another modernly underrated spectacle of middle America is Nebraska’s Omaha, a big-city hub with charming, small-town appeal. Appearing as an official stop on Lewis and Clark’s National Historic Trail, this city is located on the Missouri River near the Iowa border, and it’s brimming with history as well as attractions. Once unforgettable sight field with educational riches is Pioneer Courage Park, an urban park filled with exhibits of public art with over 100 monumentally-sized bronze sculptures depicting the tale of westward pioneers along 6 blocks of downtown Omaha. Other favorite spots are Kenefick Park, the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, and Durham Museum. Though, no trip to Omaha is complete without a visit to Bob, the city’s unofficial mascot, which is a 3,000 foot pedestrian bridge with both personality and a blue troll named Omar to take pictures with.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

While Philadelphia often gets Pennsylvania’s acclaim and is mistaken for the state’s capital, it’s Harrisburg that actually bears the title alongside a wide assortment of interesting sights and opportunities. One such event is a Willy Wonka-esque trip to Hersheypark, the 1906-founded, chocolate-themed amusement park. Additional offerings of Harrisburg include outdoor events that can take place on or off the Susquehanna River, the cultural enrichment gained by visiting the National Civil War Museum, and the artistic revelry of the Susquehanna Art Museum, which is now housed in a former bank. Though, no trip to Harrisberrg would be complete without a hunt for bargain books at the substantial Midtown Scholar Bookstore, encased in the walls of a renovated 1920’s theatre for the added theatricality and spectacle one can expect from Pennsylvania.

The full list of Travel + Leisure’s cheapest, though most enjoyable, cities in the United States, found here, also has destinations sprawling along America’s three major coasts, and their curated list was created by cross-referencing the most affordable average day rates at hotels in cities cited on Priceline’s list of the Top U.S. Destinations.

 For more travel related news and information, click here.

“225 Gives” to Support Local Nonprofits

Despite the various events and challenges that have been brought to Louisiana this year, there’s still an opportunity to support about 200 Baton Rouge-area nonprofit organizations in the form of 225 Gives, a year-end opportunity for people to give online support and donations to local nonprofits, as detailed in an Advocate article earlier this month.

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation recently teamed up with the Capital Area United Way to promote 225 Gives, a donation-based campaign that began with a week-long giving period, leading up to the 24-hour event known in nonprofit circles as ”Giving Tuesday.” This is an annual day for dedicated donating that takes place on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, once the commercialized events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are out of the way.

The nonprofit community was hit particularly hard by the rescheduling of spring fundraisers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic this year. Most fundraisers rescheduled to the Fall were delayed once again, prolonging the support that many in the community have come to expect. Ethan Bush, the director of 225 Gives believes that this combined effort from BRAF and CAUW couldn’t have come at a better time.

“A lot of the nonprofits I’ve worked with or discussed are somewhere 40% to 60% down on their fundraising efforts. They’ve been heavily affected this year,” Bush told the Advocate.

The 225 Gives campaign seeks to raise approximately $4.225 million for the charities, a giving goal that was determined by analyzing how much was earned in the first year of other Giving Tuesday programs in cities with a similar size to Baton Rouge. That figure was estimated through thorough analysis and “marketing savvy” to be $4 million, and the decimal number is reflective of the region’s area code and the community needing the support, Baton Rouge’s 225.

With this effort, Baton Rouge becomes the fourth metro area in Louisiana to create an official “Giving Day.” The other nonprofit donation efforts heralded across the state are: the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s “GiveNOLA,” which raised approximately $7.2 million for 835 organizaitons from over 68,000 donations; the Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s “Give For Good,” which raised roughly $2 million for 237 organizations from over $10,000 donations; and the Community Foundation of Acadiana’s “South Louisiana Giving Day,” which has raised $867,000 for 95 organizations from more than 2,500 donations.

Baton Rouge’s 225 Gives is a welcome addition to Louisiana’s statewide spectrum of Giving Tuesday efforts, and similar to its neighboring programs, it will provide financial incentives to those participating organizations and an online platform allowing them to see just how much is being raised by donors and other nonprofits.

The Nonprofit organizations earning the most in their “size category” on Giving Tuesday as well as nonprofits meeting special criteria in various other categories (such as most unique donors or most donations within a certain time period) will be rewarded with financial incentive from a dedicated “Challenge Fund,” estimated to be about $500,000. This fund is contributed to by 225 Gives sponsors such as BRAF, CAUW, the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, thePennington Foundation, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.

Though it’s just beginning this year, Director Ethan Bush says that 225 Gives will become an annual event, and it won’t always be ties to a specific date like Giving Tuesday, saying, ““We should find every avenue and resource to help our nonprofits collaborate, create a spirit of giving, really energize together with our community with our donors and our supporters, and we don’t want to ever take away from each one’s individual fundraising goals. We just want to be an added resource within their plans, their struggles and the things they have going on year-in and year-out.”

For more Louisiana related articles, click here.